Weeks 5-8 Writing Publish To Impact

[00:00:00] Welcome back to another episode of deep published impact podcast. Last week I spoke about the first four weeks of what it was like writing my best-selling book, published to impact.

[00:00:11] This episode, I'm going to give you weeks four to eight of the writing process and what it's looked like in case you did miss last week's episode, head back to the episode page and listen to that episode before you listened to this one. Just so you get an idea of what it's like to actually write and publish a book from the start to the end.

[00:00:32] So right now, I'm in the fifth week of the book writing process.

[00:00:36] And here's what I've done so far as a recap. Week one, I got myself into the right mindset. I mind mapped and outlined my book. Week two was when I actually started my rough drive. So I wrote 6,267 words for that week. Week three, I had a horror awake and only wrote 3,920 words. Week four. I did a bit better and I managed to write 10,120 words. Bear in mind.

[00:01:07] This was while on a European holiday where I'm consistently changing cities, traveling, getting up early sightseeing. All these different things that throw out my routine of sitting down to actually write.

[00:01:22] Now I aimed to get my draft written. After five weeks. So after the fifth week, I really wanted to get my draft written.

[00:01:30] Unfortunately, I do fall short, but I'm still on target to finish next week with a word count between 35 to 40,000 words. That's the word count. I would suggest if you're writing a book that is really based on impact, the reason why you want to write a book around that word limit is because you don't want to overwhelm your reader with content. And you also don't want to underwhelm them with value.

[00:01:59] Think of the novels you see on your bookshelf. Those novels are storytelling and they're probably between 70 to a hundred thousand words. The guide or the how to books or the books that really focus on. Problem solving. Those are the books that range from 35,000 to 40,000 words.

[00:02:19] So this week I did focus on. Getting my word count up and I wrote 7,875 words. So that takes my word count up to 28,182. .

[00:02:32] And week five, I worked on my draft for six and a half hours. So again, that's averaging one hour per day, committed to getting my book written.

[00:02:41] And week five in writing. My book was also the last week of my holiday, so I was really ready to amp it up when I returned back home.

[00:02:51] And to get into those next steps and what are those next steps? So once I've finished the rough draft, I'll do a chapter by chapter verbal, read through it and a self edit. So. In published to impact. I teach you how to go through a proper self edit. So it's prime for editing. And it's such an important part of the process because doing the leg work, once you finish that draft means less overwhelm and updates.

[00:03:15] When your manuscripts returned from your editor. And I'll also be finalizing a new cover designer and editor for the project. As I did find a couple of great options.

[00:03:25] So week six, I vetted out editors who would really best fit the project. And I found an editor who I couldn't wait to work with.

[00:03:34] And. It's really important to have a fresh set of experience, eyes looking over your book because that's going to elevate the quality. And I knew that I would also do the same with a cover designer as well.

[00:03:46] So week six was when I finished my draft and the draft finished at 32,573 words. And I know the word count is going to fluctuate during the editing process, but it is to be expected. So I'd still anticipated as 35,000 word book as there's a couple of things that I was going to add when I started writing and editing as well.

[00:04:09] Now for week six, the word count was 4,391, again, it was underwhelming in terms of the actual words that I got out, but at the end of the day, I was happy with the draft and finishing the draft for my book. It's also going to be a rough draft. It's not going to be anything. Too fancy, too crazy.

[00:04:30] Because what you're going to find is when you go over the editing, you're going to be constantly making amendments and that's okay.

[00:04:35] That's what's, that's what's to be expected. The whole thing is, is just getting the draft done so you can move forward.

[00:04:42] And then we moved on to week seven and week seven I'm halfway there, essentially. I'm halfway there from getting a launch date, ready to publish my book.

[00:04:50] So in week seven, I was anticipating that my book would be released mid to late January of 2024.

[00:04:58] So this week was all about reading over my manuscript and making changes to any errors that really glared out at me. And it was also a chance to me to improve the introduction to my book as well.

[00:05:10] Now when I write introductions and I have done a podcast episode of this before. I use my introduction when I first write it as a tool to guide me through the writing process and the chapters focusing on problem solving and value. Because when you write your draft, you just want to get the words out and done. And the whole thing about just getting the words out.

[00:05:30] As you keep writing, you start to gain more clarity as your book takes shape. So when I came back to the intro, I can make that a much more powerful introduction because I can really convey the book's message in a more effective way, because I have gained that clarity throughout that writing process.

[00:05:48] So week seven, I spent around six total hours working on my book again, still keeping me on track to write, publish, and launch my book in 14 weeks.

[00:05:58] And then we go to week eight, which will be the final week. In this podcast episode, I will do another podcast episode next week on the next four weeks as well. And then another one again, taking me to the launch. So. Week eight and we're ticking along nicely. The weeks have been flying by, and it's almost November and I was still in good shape to publish the book in January of 2024. Now the deeper I got into the publishing process, the more I felt that writing a nonfiction book is one of the best ways to make a huge impact personally and professionally.

[00:06:35] So. The goal of my book is to give you the tools and resources and the mindset to become an author in your niche and make an impact in those you serve.

[00:06:46] So what happened in week eight? I landed a title for my book. Now I've always known my title, but I've been going back and forth on the subtitle.

[00:06:55] And what I did was I didn't release the subtitle in week eight or the title. I built the anticipation up as well with my audience, my email list.

[00:07:04] So I let my audience know. That I have settled on a title, but I didn't release that title straight away. I also mapped out my book resource list.

[00:07:14] So when you write a book, That focuses on problem solving. You want to include resources for your readers. This does two things. One, it gives you a rate as extreme value in where to go to have their problem solved. And two, you can use it as a way to connect with them through exchanging an email address for the resource.

[00:07:36] So my book published impacts, I included outlines checklist, video training. All valuable tools to get your book written in the easiest way possible.

[00:07:48] And the other thing I also did was I created graphics and illustrations that I'll be including in the book.

[00:07:54] I did this all through Canva. Most of the graphics and illustrations, it was just more professional, easier with easy on the eye. And just the finishing touches on a really professional book.

[00:08:06] So essentially that's what happened in week eight.

[00:08:09] Now, week eight was a lot of background work and that's fine because it's getting you prepared to publish and keeping the momentum going and just getting all the small little things done to make your book a really powerful asset to deliver to your audience.

[00:08:25] So let's now recap weeks, five to eight quickly.

[00:08:29] Week five. I plan on finishing my rough draft.

[00:08:33] I thought just short, but I did finish that in week six, but week five, I was figuring out the next steps in terms of finding an editor. Looking at a cover designer and just starting that process as well.

[00:08:44] Wake seeks. I finished my draft. I had conversations with editors, had conversations with cover designers, vetted out who I wanted to be a part of this project as well, because some editors, some cover designers may have different. Opinions on what you would also want and they may not be the best fit.

[00:09:02] So it's important to speak to a couple of cover designers and a couple of editors to make sure that they're the right fit for you.

[00:09:08] Week seven, I did a soft self edit. I rewrite the introduction to make it as powerful as it could be.

[00:09:14] Which I spent a total of around six hours. For the week doing it. And the majority of that was spent on the self editing of the book.

[00:09:23] And week eight, I landed on a title for my book. I didn't release it. Then I released it in a week nine.

[00:09:29] But wait, Kate, I mapped out all my book resource list. I created graphics and illustrations. And really put the finishing touches on my book. So it was easy enough to one submit to the editor, but to have everything ready. When I start the publishing process.

[00:09:45] So what's next and what's expected to come in the following weeks.

[00:09:49] Well, one is to share the title with my audience, submit the manuscript to my editor, finalize all the resources for my book. And then while the books with my editor working on getting a cover designed. I'll go more into detail next week, but it's all about the publishing process and getting everything set up for Amazon and getting a paperback copy in my hands.

[00:10:12] So thanks heaps for joining me. I hope this has been really insightful for you in terms of getting your book written. And if you really want to get your book written, I suggest you get a free copy of published impact down in the show notes. But until next time I'll chat to you soon.